Belgium’s absent national identity comes at a price

Belgium is going through an existential crisis. The question on everyone’s mind is: Do we really live in a failed state? Objectively, the answer is no. But the current anxiety points to a severe loss of confidence that is just as dangerous.

Two months after terrorist attacks that killed 32 people, the country is in a state of shock. People wonder what could have been done to prevent the violence. They worry that the authorities will not be able to protect them against further attacks. Why did it happen here? is a common refrain. And will it happen again?

It is inevitable that a country struck by terrorism will slide into this kind of soul searching. Whether you live in Madrid, London, Paris or Brussels, you now think twice before you get on public transport after a major attack, and you feel, for a time, less safe. But there is one major difference here.

In Spain, the U.K. and France, citizens rallied around a common identity to cope with the aftermath of the violence. In the long run, these traumatic events did not fundamentally alter public opinion. What all these countries have in common, though, is a strong sense of national identity and pride.

Belgians do not have this comfort. More than two months after the attacks, there has been no collective grieving and no sense of collective responsibility.

* * *

Developments since the bombings have only added insult to injury: The airport’s air traffic controllers went on strike, the airport police insisted on cumbersome procedures, extremists marched on the Place de la Bourse where vigils had been held, and politicians blamed one another for failing to prevent carnage. No one rallied behind the Belgian flag. No one watched King Philippe’s televised speech the day of the attacks. The royal family’s statements of sympathy have fallen on deaf ears and failed to catch the media’s attention. A remembrance march in April attracted only a few thousand people.

So is Belgium a failed state? The question, first raised by POLITICO, has captivated the collective imagination. Quite a few Belgians would agree with the diagnosis.

As a political scientist, I have to disagree. A failed state implies a total breakdown of the state institutions and the collapse of law and order. This is not the case here. Income, unemployment and economic growth figures are all close to the European average. Life expectancy is high and continues to rise. Crime rates are low. The quality of education and health care is well above the European average. In comparison to its European neighbors, Belgium is by no means an outlier.

I would like to put forward a more interesting question: Why are Belgians so willing to believe they live in a failed state?

Concerns about the effectiveness of the Belgian state are not new. Over the past decades, the role of the state was cut back considerably and the bulk of responsibilities now rests with the regions. The notion of a strong central authority has all but evaporated.

National pride is absent in Belgium. In fact, this may be the only thing we are truly proud of. Belgium is not an aggressive state, and we are good at making compromises.

The absence of collective identity does come at a price, however. What do we care if outsiders have a negative perception of Brussels, or Belgium as whole? For the most part, we share their negative outlook.

Why rally behind the flag when we don’t believe in it ourselves?

* * *

Belgium has been portrayed as a weak country, and nationalist sentiments in Flanders and Wallonia remain strong. Analysis of what went wrong on March 22 has been strongly influenced by these identity-based positions.

Flemish parties place the blame on Brussels’ predominantly French-speaking police force. French-speaking parties point the finger at Flemish politicians, accusing them of favoring tougher immigration laws and dividing society.

Other countries react to acts of violence with collective mourning. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that Belgium is going through an episode of collective depression.

There is no easy way out. The Flemish-speaking population does not expect much to change on the federal level. National loyalty has typically been stronger among French-speaking Belgians, but since Flemish politicians began to dominate the federal government the feeling has changed dramatically. Walloons now perceive the government as a form of Flemish authority.

For decades, Belgian political elites have claimed the country has no real future, and that nationalist forces will eventually prevail. For non-Belgian observers, it is often striking that there is so little resistance to this defeatist discourse.

Belgians have indeed demonstrated it is perfectly possible to operate without a strong sense of national identity — or even a government. But increasingly, this seems to have been a fair-weather phenomenon. In hard times, a defined sense of national identity is an asset — a lesson the Belgians are now learning the hard way.

Marc Hooghe is professor of political science at the University of Leuven.

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HP

Part of the problem with the Police in Brussels is that, contrary to Pr. Hooghe, it is dominated and staffed by Flemings who have zero affinity with us Bruxellois. Moreover, although political nominations are nothing new, they are not just based on party affiliation anymore but also on language. Paris Match Belgique published the figures on May 12th, and what they basically show is that Flemings have pushed non-Flemings out wherever they can and monopolized all positions that deal with law and order. Logically this also results in the elimination of the French language at federal level. Basically, francophones in this country are living under Flemish colonial administration. The social unrest we are seeing at the moment is not just a reaction against a right-wing government that actively seeks confrontation with the left and the trade unions: it is also the reaction of a people that has lost its political autonomy and is (mis)governed by foreigners.

Posted on 5/27/16 | 9:49 AM CET

Sabine T

Interesting insights, but “thank you” for making me even more depressed. It feels like the ending is missing here. An interpretation of a current sentiment and analysis on the how it got there, but there is no conclusion.
Yes, Belgians are learning a hard lesson, so what now? Separate? Increase federal powers against regions? Do nothing?
It’s not enough to just stand by a person in distress and comment on how sad they look and how labourous their breathing is or worse, take a photo of them. Would be interesting to know your point of view, Mr Hooghe, on what you think could be a solution for Belgium and Belgians. Don’t be guilty of “schuldig verzuim” or “non-assistance à personne en danger” please.

Posted on 5/27/16 | 10:42 AM CET

Meta

Is this really true? For instance, I recall seeing Belgians just as passionate about their football team as any other country during the last World Cup. Belgium also has it’s own cultural icons and stereotypes like every other country; just as Americans have apple pie, baseball and Broadway, or France has baguettes, wine and sidewalk cafes, Belgium has beer, chocolate and comics, etc.

Posted on 5/27/16 | 11:31 AM CET

Bob L'ec

Interesting reaction by HP claiming that the Francophone population’s Flemish countrymen are “foreigners” (!) who impose a “colonial administration” upon them.

Posted on 5/27/16 | 11:31 AM CET

Marcel

Belgium is not a failed state, but an artificial nationality (kind of like Iraq, Syria, Niger, Libya etc).

Belgium was created by the Brits and Germans to prevent a larger France. It was subsequently dominated by the Frankish minority which oppressed and denied the Flemish their language and identity.

Posted on 5/27/16 | 1:31 PM CET

JW

Only Politico seems to be the one shoving this “failed state” narrative down our throats. I for one think Mr. Hooghe has spent far too much time with Mr. Cerelus and his list of “easy Belgian article topics.”

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Posted on 5/27/16 | 8:28 PM CET

maarten van den oever

Even if belgium splits up the existing problems will continue. I can understand Mr Hooghe as a belgian and a fleming does not see that, But Flandres and belgium have two huge problems. First is that almost nothing works properly as far as governmentagencies and the judiciary are concerned, two is that there is an enormous underspending on care and infrastructure. So coming into antwerp is almost as visiting an african city (I lived there 20 years), as is the case in many smaller cities. As a belgian and a flemish person people live in denial because they are completely used to that, but exactly as a relative outsider you see what is going on. No, a failed state it is’nt, but nothing there is what it is. Une pipe nést pas une pipe.

Posted on 5/27/16 | 9:50 PM CET

Roland

@Marcel I think you mean United Netherlands those “Belgian rebels” were routed and defeated when the French Northern army invaded. The history of French invasions and imperialist designs in the Low countries is like that of the British in Ireland. Stop claiming the British and Germans are solely to blame for the still birth we call Belgium. France, Britain, and Prussia/Germany are all to blame. Also the Habsburgs during the Dutch revolt. The low countries would be much happier if they were put back together as one nation. Brussels is the capital of the duchy of Brabant it has nothing to do historically with either Flanders or Wallonia.

Posted on 5/27/16 | 10:43 PM CET

Theodore

Belgium is not a failed state but Wallonia is . Forever stuck in the past under corrupt and totally incompetent politicians and peopled by lazy backward people , most of it the result of 50 years of socialist rule . Te armpit of Europe and a basket case of the first order .

Thedor

Really Theodore?
Walloon a failed state and Belgium not?
When it is the ultimate incompetent Mr Ham, sorry Her Jambon, of the Flemish national party, the utter failure who could not close down the metro an hour after the airport was bombed. A man responsible for the death of so many people in the metro and still a minister?
Really?
I am not not a Belgian, I am not for Flanders or Walloon, but from what I have seen three years now living in Brussels, it is quite clear that the current Belgian model is not functional. So many governments and ministers and a load of mayors receiving their fat salaries, while the working Belgians are paying huge amounts of taxes.
The whole thing has turned into a farce by incompetent politicians seeking power for themselves and the rest, nationalism etc are just used to justify the necessity for so many levels of government and the large number of politicians.

Posted on 5/28/16 | 6:38 PM CET

maarten van den oever

As you can see here the same gang of flemish nationalists is busy here as elsewhere in every social site in belgium, trying to play a blame game, in which every failure in belgium is only caused by other people who have to be wallons. They simply do that to hide the fact that flandres is going down the same terrible way as in the eighties and seventies of the last century, where corruption, fraud and disfunctioning of governement was everywhere, caused by flemish nationalist sentiment. That is happening again now, because nationalism throws flandres back in time and causes large scale stagnation.
And, by the way, the only thing the netherlands will never do is taking back this backward flandres into their state.

Posted on 5/28/16 | 10:46 PM CET

HP

Marcel: if the Flemings had been “oppressed” even half as much as they pretend they have been, they wouldn’t be in a position to complain about it in any other language than French, just like the Scots or the Bretons. In reality, it is precisely because the Belgian state has been extremely accomodating with the Flemings (mostly out of anti-French sentiment) that it is on the verge of disappearing. There cannot be both a Flemish nation and a Belgian nation: the existence of a Flemish nation nullifies the imaginary Belgian nation. It is time that Belgian French-speakers understand this and start thinking seriously about their future either as an independent nation, either as a part of France, before it really is too late.

Posted on 5/29/16 | 5:36 AM CET

Jochen Barthel

Something about that analysis must be wrong. national identity in spain and the uk is also in a deep crisis (catalonia, scotland). so that is probanly not the whole picture. moreover, how should belgium become a nation? what is meant by nation in this text? one language? one religion? no diversity? shouldn’t rather citizen rights be the same than the citizens? the longing for stronger nations in europe seems to be the much bigger chalenge in europe at the moment!

Posted on 5/29/16 | 10:05 AM CET

Veritas-Semper

You forgot to add, that staring – in groups preferably – at a photo of Verhofstadt should be good therapy for all the Belgians. He is such a Casanova of the European political scene that his aura should provide the binding spirit to the Belgians who feel miserable.

Staring at his smiling face has an immediate affect of expressions joviality upon the viewer…

Posted on 5/29/16 | 12:23 PM CET

Jay

First of, as a ‘Belgian’ you are eighter Dutch(Flanders) or French(Wallonie), so there is no such thing as a Belgian. 2de, nationality is in the Flemings blood as a cry for freedom and against discrimination after hundreds of years of foreign rule(Rome, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium and even Austria), even now all the Africans that invaded Flanders the last decades have more rights then the Fleming(2 weeks more vacation for the same job and extra foreigners-benefits). Or to say it different, they made us proud nationalists, but we will never be Belgians(speaking as a true Flemish born Belgian). So yes we live in a failed state since a huge part of it’s base-population still live like 2de class citizens in their own country.

Posted on 6/1/16 | 3:48 AM CET

van de Werve

Interesting article. Not at all convinced that Walloons consider the Federal government as a Flemish authority. I do not think Belgium is a failed State but a certain Wallonia is undoubtedly a total failure and this failure makes more and more Belgians pessimistic about the future of their country. French speaking trade unions have become irresponsible. Patronage and clientelism are omnipresent in Wallonia. Most politicians are parochial, lack guts and stay politically correct. Belgium has become unable to transform itself in order to face tomorrow’s challenges (pensions, social security, migration, etc). This does not bode well for the future.

Posted on 6/2/16 | 5:33 AM CET

HP

The Flemish reflex to blame everything on Wallonia and Brussels could be amusing if it wasn’t deeply disgusting. Amusing because Flanders has thoroughly dominated Belgium for decades now and our present government is basically Flemish only. Disgusting because it is basically the expression of a deep racism.